Los Angeles, CA. April, 2025—As the music festival season kicks off, with events like Coachella in April, new research reveals the hidden costs of festival food and drinking. A survey by Lifesum, a leading healthy eating app, highlights the toll festivals take on the health, hydration, and nutrition of festival-goers—and why Gen Z is turning to AI-powered food tracking to stay on top of their well-being this summer.

The survey of 2,000 Gen Z festival-goers (ages 18-30) found that:

•       78% feel dehydrated, exhausted, and nutritionally deprived after attending festivals
•       62% admit they barely eat proper meals, relying instead on whatever they can grab
•       49% regret their food and drink choices, saying it affects their energy and mood
•       58% feel that festival food is overpriced and unhealthy but still buy it out of convenience
•       32% have experienced fatigue from dehydration, yet 67% don’t track their water intake

From Coachella to Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, festival-goers are looking for smarter ways to enjoy the experience without burning out. In fact, the research found that 68% of Gen Z would use an AI tool to track their nutrition during festivals—proving that staying on top of food and hydration is not just for the gym, but also for the dance floor.

Long festival weekends can take a toll—fast food, little sleep, and dehydration often leave people feeling drained. With more festival-goers looking for ways to stay energized, many are turning to AI tools to help track food, drinks, and hydration effortlessly. Lifesum’s Multimodal Tracker allows users to log meals via photo recognition, voice commands, or barcode scanning, stay on top of their water intake with real-time reminders, and get nutrition insights to avoid energy crashes. Small adjustments, like balancing food choices and staying hydrated, can make a big difference in how you feel during and after the festival.

"Festivals are unforgettable, but let’s be real—three days of fast food, dehydration, and no sleep leave you wrecked. That’s why more and more Gen Z are turning to AI solutions like Lifesum’s AI-powered Multimodal Tracker as the must-have festival hack. It’s like having a personal nutritionist in your pocket, helping you stay hydrated, fuelled, and energised all weekend long, so you can keep the party going without burning out," said Signe Svanfeldt, lead nutritionist at Lifesum.

 

Signe’s top 5 food and drink hacks for music festivals in 2025

1️. Hydration First - Start each day with a large glass of water with electrolytes, and set reminders to sip on water regularly. Dehydration = fatigue + headaches.

2️. Pack Smart Snacks – Bring protein bars, nuts, and fruit to avoid overpriced, unhealthy festival food.

3️. Balance Your Drinks – For every alcoholic drink, follow up with water to stay hydrated and to avoid excessive alcohol intake.

4️. Opt for Nutrient-Dense Meals – When buying food, go for options with protein, fibre and healthy fats to keep energy levels up.

5️. Use AI to track your intake – Lifesum’s AI-powered Multimodal Tracker helps you log food, drinks and hydration effortlessly - even in a crowd.

 

Media Inquiries

Signe Svanfeldt, lead nutritionist at Lifesum, is available for an interview.

Media contact: Harry Cymbler, Hot Cherry PR, harry@hotcherry.co.uk

 

About Lifesum

Lifesum is a leading global nutrition and food tracking app, helping over 65 million people in 182 countries make smarter, personalized food choices and build sustainable, healthy habits. Founded in 2013, Lifesum uses advanced AI to deliver hyper-personalized meal plans, recipes, food and exercise tracking, and continuous motivation to optimize nutrition, fitness, sleep, and wellbeing. With access to nearly 25 million food items, curated recipes, exercises, and integration with fitness apps, Lifesum makes healthy living simple, actionable, and enjoyable. Learn more at Lifesum.com.